International Crime Organizations Besides The Italian Mafia

Origins: Russia's extensive criminal groups date back to the Russian Empire. However, it wasn't until the Soviet era that criminals known as "vory y zakone," or "thieves in law," began to organize. These "vory" emerged from Stalin's labor camps between the 1930s and 1950s, where they developed their own unique practices and code of ethics. This code includes rules like having nothing to do with authorities and helping other thieves.

Vory are also known for their elaborate tattoos. Members of different criminal groups in Russia cover their bodies from head to toe in explicit, detailed renderings of their crimes, illegal achievements, and commitments to the lifestyle. As the USSR began to crumble, the number of gangs skyrocketed. Once Communism officially ended in the early 1990s, vory gave way to a new breed of gangster who hid his tattoos under crisp suits and blended in with all the businessmen around him: the "avtoritet," or "authority."

As these groups became more structured and hierarchical, they gained control of Russia's fragile, burgeoning capitalist economy. They also came to control the highest levels of government by recruiting hundreds of ex-KGB members and Afghan War veterans.

Biggest Crimes: Russian Mafia groups dabble in almost every illegal activity under the sun. This includes money laundering, car theft, drug trafficking, prostitution, assassinations, and contraband weapons dealings. Top government officials across the country are perpetually accused of being involved or complicit with these groups, such as Said Amirov, who ran the northern city of Makhachkala like his own fiefdom for years.

Notable Figures: Russia's most notorious organized crime syndicate remains the Solntsevskaya Bratva, formed in the 1990s by a prisoner named Sergei Mikhailov. Its membership tops 5,000, and its reach extends deep into the Americas - from New York City to Bogota, Colombia.

Current State: In the 1990s, the number of Russian Mafia groups rose into the thousands. As of 2012, the number stood at around 6,000. However, less than 500 of these groups are actually highly organized criminal operations.

Origins: The Yakuza, which translates to English as "good for nothing," trace their origins back to 17th-century Japan. These world-renowned gangsters were likely bred from masterless, wandering samurai known as ronin or from the local groups who banded together to defend their villages from these wayward samurai. Whatever the case may be, the Yakuza are known for their samurai-like rituals and colorful, intricate full-body tattoos. 

By the 1960s, Yakuza membership peaked at 184,000. Members are broken up into hundreds of regional gangs, all led by a boss known as an "oyabun." All Yakuza must abide by a strict code and follow a stringent hierarchy, one reinforced by ultra-nationalistic ideologies. Yakuza agents consider their group a "chivalrous organization," and they maintain this persona by completing public-facing charitable acts. For example, they donated goods and money to survivors of 1995's Kobe earthquake and 2011's tsunami.

Biggest Crimes: The Yakuza rely on violence and extorting local businesses, such as restaurants and transportation companies, in order to maintain control in their areas. They also participate in smuggling illegal goods, gambling, prostitution, and various underground rackets.

Notable Figures: Yamaguchi Harukichi established the largest Yakuza conglomerate in 1915, known as the Yamaguchi-gumi. The syndicate continued to grow and thrive after WWII under Yamaguchi's scion Taoka Kazuo.

Current State: Estimates vary, but Yakuza numbers fell to about 80,000 in the 21st century. The Japanese government's attempts to impose tighter restrictions on its various sub-groups may be behind this decline.

Origins: The Irish Mob and its ongoing rivalry with the Italian Mafia dates back to the 19th century. First in Ireland and then in America, Irishmen formed gangs that eventually evolved into criminal rings. These Irish groups set up shop all over the United States, but their biggest concentrations remain along the East Coast. 

Like other American crime organizations, the Irish Mob thrived during the Prohibition era. Conglomerates from Boston to Detroit, New Orleans to New York were able to gain influence and income by controlling aspects of the bootlegging market.

Biggest Crimes: Irish crime syndicates partake in financial crimes like loan sharking, extortion, counterfeiting, and underground gambling. They also dabble in drugs, prostitution, and violent retribution toward their perceived enemies, including bombings, assaults, and homicide.

Notable Figures: Perhaps the best-known Irish mobster is Whitey Bulger, the long-term Boston-based FBI informant who developed a criminal empire while working closely with a corrupt federal agent named John J. Connolly Jr. Connolly exploited the long-running tensions between the Irish-American Mob and the Italian-American Mafia when he convinced Bulger to become a mole in the 1970s. Connolly assured Bulger this move would give him an edge over his rivals, as well as shield him from FBI probes.

This guarantee only lasted so long, and Bulger went on the run in 1994 when the DEA and local police were on the way to arrest him for his underground gambling operations. He was finally caught in 2011.

Current State: The Irish Mob continues to implicate itself in the increasingly complicated North American drug trade. In 2017, a California-based Irish Mob drug kingpin named Coby Phillips was sentenced to life in prison for the demise of a rival dealer. Phillips is responsible for one of the most extensive methamphetamine trafficking businesses in modern history. During his sentencing, Phillips told the presiding judge, "Ya win some, ya lose some."

Origins: The Sinaloa Cartel rose out of the burgeoning Mexican drug smuggling industry in the 1960s. Sinaloa, a northwestern state in Mexico, is a gorgeous region historically known for small, sustenance farms. These proved beneficial for marijuana and opium production. The Sinaloa Cartel became Mexico's most connected and powerful criminal organization by the 1990s, thanks in large part to its vast networks, access to underground tunnels, and help from local police.

This cartel considers the city of Culiacán it's base of operations. However, in its quest to rule the illegal drug trade, Sinaloa members have engaged in bloody battles against rival cartels up and down Mexico. A lot of this violence has been concentrated at the border between Mexico and the United States.

Biggest Crimes: As a drug cartel, Sinaloa deals with the production, trafficking, and distribution of substances like coke, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis, and MDMA. Most of these drugs are transferred to and sold in the United States. In order to protect its interests, Sinaloa members rely on assassinations, mass murder, and bribery against both government officials and competitors.

Notable Figures: Sinaloa Cartel's founder, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, is among the most infamous crime bosses of all time. Through his illegal maneuverings in the drug trade, El Chapo became a millionaire and Mexico's self-proclaimed drug kingpin. El Chapo has escaped prison twice, first in 2001 and then in 2015. While hiding from authorities, El Chapo granted actor Sean Penn an in-person interview for Rolling Stone in 2015. This act of vanity led to his downfall, as information provided in the article allowed the Mexican government to find him. El Chapo has been in a supermax prison since 2016.

Current State: Even with El Chapo's incarceration, the Sinaloa Cartel continues to maintain its dominance in both Mexico and the United States. In recent years, it has capitalized on America's opioid crisis by building laboratories equipped to produce large amounts of fentanyl - the highly addictive synthetic opioid that is cheaper to produce than other drugs. Using established smuggling routes, the Sinaloa Cartel has been sending fentanyl across the border, and is now the main fentanyl supplier in North America.

Origins: Some motorcycle clubs are really just social clubs, but not the Hells Angels. This one-percenter outlaw motorcycle club traces its roots back to 1948, when WWII veterans in Southern California decided to merge several bike groups into one. The Hells Angels thrived under the radar, opening chapters up and down the California coast until California Attorney General Thomas C. Lynch spoke out publicly against them in 1965.

The group grew in infamy first when Hunter S. Thompson published the book Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga about them in 1967 and then when they were hired to run security at 1969's Altamont Festival, which featured the Rolling Stones. Images of the violence and rioting that ensued at the concert spread like wildfire in the media, cementing the Hells Angels' reputation as a violent gang of criminals.

Biggest Crimes: Far from just a motorcycle club, the Hells Angels are an organized criminal enterprise involved with drugs, guns, stolen goods, and prostitution. Many of their members have been arrested for bar fights, assaulting women, and the illegal trafficking of various products.

Notable Figures: Hunter S. Thompson made Ralph (Sonny) Barger, the long-term president of the Oakland chapter, a household name thanks to his book. Barger went on to act as a national spokesman for the Hells Angels for quite some time.

Current State: The Hell Angels continue to conduct illegal and violent activities. In 2017, federal prosecutors charged 11 members in Sonoma County, CA, with dozens of crimes. These range from drug trafficking to assault to attacks against rival crew members. These men shared a large cache of weapons, including guns, brass knuckles, knives, and homemade mace dispensers.

Hells Angels spokespeople tried to frame the accusers as a few bad apples. "The Hells Angels care more about their image than any other crime group," admitted Canadian journalist Julian Sher.

Origins: During the 1980s, immigrants fleeing El Salvador's civil war established a street gang in Los Angeles to protect themselves from rival groups. Coined MS-13, the group has developed a reputation for itself as being extremely violent, unforgiving, and widespread across the United States. The gang's abbreviated name stands for "Mara Salvatrucha," which translates roughly as "street-smart Salvadorian gang." The 13 signals the letter M's place in the alphabet.

As MS-13 membership grew across the United States, it transitioned from a disorganized entity to a tight-knit criminal enterprise. It's known for recruiting underage members, who must go through heinous rituals and commit brutal crimes before they are officially inducted. Once in, its members often cover themselves in gang-related tattoos.

Biggest Crimes: MS-13 earns most of its income from drugs and extortion, but it is also known for participating in child sex trafficking. Its members also partake in assaults against women, dispatching people using machetes, and kidnapping.

Notable Figures: Multiple members have made headlines over the years for their savage acts of violence. MS-13's long-time East Coast kingpin, Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, was arrested in Long Island, NY, back in 2017 for drug trafficking and murder. He is currently awaiting a federal trial.

Current State: In 2008, MS-13's United States membership was estimated to be between 6,000 and 10,000. Thanks to mass deportations in the 1990s, the group's numbers are now larger abroad than they are at home. Members were sent to Central American countries, where they established offshoots. The organization's annual revenue is about $31.2 million.